


what was lost (will now be found)

by thunderstorm (ConsultingTimelordWizard)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, POV Steve Rogers, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 07:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsultingTimelordWizard/pseuds/thunderstorm
Summary: Steve's job was to return the infinity stones to the exact moment they'd been taken. No one said anything about not meddling with the timeline in other ways."“Time is fickle,” she said slowly. “You have changed it even with returning the infinity stones. Should you make any more changes… consider the potential consequences before you make them.” Steve nodded his understanding and swallowed thickly. Of course the woman responsible for guarding the time stone would see right through him. “Understood, ma’am.”"SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME AHEAD.





	what was lost (will now be found)

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME AHEAD. I know it's been about a month since the movie premiered, but seriously if you haven't seen it, DO NOT READ. Not unless you like spoilers. This is my first time actually writing for the MCU rather than just reading it, so let me know how I did!

When initially explained by Scott before The End, it had sounded relatively simple. They’d shrink down, traverse the quantum realm, and end up at their destination in a snap. Of course, nothing was as easy as it sounded, Steve mused as he kicked--and then admired--his past self’s ass. It was kind of painful seeing how, despite being strangers, the Avengers were united compared to the scattered mess of self-proclaimed superheroes they were in 2024, and Steve decided  _ fuck it _ when he and Tony went to the 70s for the tesseract. Seeing Peggy alive and well, just out of his reach, was more than he could bear.

Or so he thought.

Nothing  _ really _ compared to watching the arc reactor of Tony Stark’s suit sputter out, though, the life fading from his normally expressive eyes and his non-charred hand falling from its place covering Pepper’s. Nothing compared to her anguished cries, echoed by Peter Parker’s own grief-filled sobs ( _ God, the kid was fifteen _ ) and emphasized by Colonel Rhodes’ silent tears. Steve’s heart may have physically broken, had it been able to, and the only people that kept him together had been Bucky and Sam.

Natasha had been among those stabilizing presences in his life. Steve swallowed down renewed heartbreak.

After the funeral, when the wreath holding the first arc reactor was barely a spec on the lake and he’d given his condolences to Pepper and Morgan, Steve suited up with the case of infinity stones in hand and one of the many shields Tony had apparently built strapped securely on his back. The weight of Thor’s hammer on his belt was odd, but the Asgardian had told him of its place out of time, so it fell to Steve to return that as well. Bruce was messing with the little quantum tech that had survived Thanos’ attack on the base, leaving him to console Sam’s worry. Bucky was contemplative more than anything, which fit his post-HYDRA personality well.

“Are you sure you don’t want anyone to go with you?” Sam asked, and Steve’s lips quirked up.

“I’ll be fine. I have to do this.” He relaxed when Sam stepped back and looked to Bucky, hoping his eyes could convey what words couldn’t.

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” Steve said, echoing him from 80 years ago. Bucky’s smile turned sad, and Steve knew he understood.

“How can I?” Bucky responded. “You’re taking all the stupid with you.” The two pulled each other into a tight hug. “Stay safe, Stevie. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I, Buck.” He pulled away and got onto the panel Bruce had set up, activating his quantum suit and patting his pocket briefly. He relaxed and gave them all a smile.

“See you on the other side,” he said. His helmet went on, and the panel activated.

“See you in five seconds,” Bruce said. 

_ No you won’t, _ he thought right before pressing the button and letting himself shrink, leaving 2024 behind him.

 

\---

 

Time travel would never  _ not _ be weird. It was one thing to watch it in all those sci-fi movies Tony and Clint had insisted he watch post-Chitauri, but to actually do it was jarring. 2014 was already messed up thanks to past-Nebula leading that version of Thanos to Earth years before he should have, but he was still careful to avoid the Nebula and Rhodey they’d sent back to get the power stone as well as the knocked-out Peter Quill in the distance.

It was hard to see Nebula attacked and taken away by her past self without stepping in to interfere, but once they were gone Steve replaced the stone (more like shoved it through the shield protecting it; after seeing what it did to Nebula’s robotic hand, Steve wasn’t inclined to test it against his flesh and bone), made sure Quill wasn’t dead, and moved on.

Clint and Natasha had gotten the soul stone from 2014. Natasha was probably dying as he thought right that instant. He swallowed back bile and sent himself to Vormir, knowing he couldn’t avoid it forever. 

Encountering Red Skull was an unpleasant surprise. 

“I was wondering when you’d be here to return the stone,” he said, eyes on the case Steve held. “I will take that.”

Steve stiffened. “A soul for a soul,” he said, jaw clenching. “Bring her back.”

“Funny how mortals believe they can negotiate the stone,” Red Skull mused. “You would negate her sacrifice, Captain?”

“Will my future change if I do?” he asked instead of responding. “Would Thanos and his army still be gone if she returns with the return of the soul stone?”

Red Skull grinned eerily, his lack of skin sending chills down Steve’s spine. “I cannot tell the future, Captain America. Whether she is worth potentially corrupting your long fought-for peace is entirely up to you.”

_ You’re lying _ , Steve wanted to shout, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. Whether he could see the future or not, Red Skull wouldn’t tell him. It was his call to make. Steve just hoped it was the right one.

“Bring her back,” he said slowly. “Bring back Natasha Romanoff alive and well, and I will give you the stone.”

The two stared one another down for a tense few minutes, and right as Steve prepared to set the stones aside and fight Red Skull again, he held out a ghostly limb, the memory of a hand open and waiting.

“The stone,” Red Skull said. Steve pressed it into his palm and stepped back.

“Now Natasha.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Captain Rogers,” Red Skull said as Steve’s vision began to blacken around the edges. “Time is a fickle thing, after all.”

With that, Steve passed out, and when he woke he was in the middle of a shallow lake. To his left was the case with the other stones, and to his right--

“Natasha!” He scrambled to his knees and hovered above her, brushing her hair out of her face and sagging when he saw her breathing. “Nat, wake up.  _ Please _ wake up.”

Her eyes slowly fluttered open as Steve tried to take her, confusion evident on her face as she focused in on him. Her head turned to the side, and it was as if someone had flipped a switch: one moment, she had been disoriented and in the next Natasha was on her feet, searching for something--or some _ one _ \--who wasn’t there.

“Why are you here, Steve?” Natasha asked, voice harsh. Steve didn’t take it personally, though it was different being on the receiving end of that tone. “You’re supposed to be in 2012. Where’s Clint?” She froze and turned on her heel, grabbing him tightly by the shoulders. “Steve,  _ where is Clint _ ?”

“He’s safe, Nat,” Steve reassured her, gently peeling her hands away and holding them lightly in his own. “We won. I’m bringing back the stones to where they belong, and you came back when I returned the soul stone.”

Natasha looked a mix of shocked and relieved. “He’s gone?”

“Yeah, he’s gone. We’re all okay.” Steve hesitated and looked away. “Mostly.”

That seemed to shut her down, her face expressionless. “Who did we lose?”

“...Tony. We lost Tony.” Pressure formed behind his eyes and in his chest, both which he pushed past. “He snapped Thanos and his army away, and it killed him.” His eyes were wet, and he tried to subtly wipe them away as he told Natasha what she had missed. He told her how the stones had damaged Bruce’s arm, how the 2014 Nebula had fooled them and brought Thanos through the quantum realm, how the base had been destroyed. He told her how they would have failed  _ again _ if Doctor Strange hadn’t brought the previously dusted army back to the field in time, and how he’d been able to wield Mjolnir just before Thanos could kill Thor (her eyes darted to the hammer on his belt when he mentioned that, looking impressed if he read her correctly). He told her of Tony’s last moment and funeral. The entire time Natasha quietly listened, pulling Steve into a hug when he finished and letting him finally express the emotions he had been repressing.

She hadn’t been dead for long before that final battle--a day at best--but  _ Christ _ , Steve had missed her.

“Do you have a device for me?” Natasha asked once he’d calmed down. “Seems I didn’t come back with mine.”

Steve nodded and reached into his pocket, glad he’d been prepared before he left as he handed it to her. She strapped it on quickly and took the case from Steve. 

“Where do you have to go yet?”

“Asgard and New York..”

Natasha nodded and booted the device up. “Let’s go to Asgard first, then deal with New York.”

“And New Jersey,” he added. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why New Jersey?”

“It’s a long story,” Steve said, staring at Natasha with a frown. “You should go back home, Nat. You need to rest. You were  _ literally _ dead half an hour ago.”

Natasha smirked. “Someone has to keep you in line, Rogers. Let’s go, and you can explain New Jersey to me.”

Steve smiled a genuine smile for the first time sine 2018, and he set his own device for Asgard, the two vanishing from the murky lake.

 

\---

 

They weren’t able to avoid detection on Asgard, evidently. Steve hated the idea of having to inject the reality stone back into Jane Foster, especially if he was recalling what had happened with it correctly from Thor’s drunken ramblings. Natasha had been quick to point out that keeping the alternate timeline would ruin their reality, so he sucked it up.

_ Literally, _ he sucked the stone up into the extractor and switched the setting to inject. They watched Rocket run away from the Odinson guards and made their way toward what Steve presumed was Jane’s room. Unfortunately, that was as far as they got before a woman cleared  her throat behind them.

She was regal and beautiful, and Steve fought the urge to bow to her. The woman smiled warmly at them both. 

“And here I thought I’d have to stall the day until someone came back with what they took,” she lilted teasingly. “I just saw my drunken son off with a tube just like that and a… rabbit?”

Natasha had to cover up her laugh.

“I presume Thor told you everything  if you were expecting us?” Steve asked. The woman, Frigga, nodded slightly.

“He did. If you’d like, Captain Rogers, I can return the Aether to Jane so neither of you have to try and explain your presence. We cannot afford to disturb the timeline any more than it has already been.”

“There’s also the matter of Mjolnir.”

Frigga chuckled. “Leave it there, if you wish. My son leaves it where he pleases, for anyone who decides to try and steal his weapon will not be worthy enough to wield it.”

Steve glanced at Natasha, who only inclined her head in response. He returned the gesture, placed Mjolnir on the floor near the doorway, and handed the tube to Frigga, who took it delicately. None of them said anything more until Frigga called out:

“Captain Rogers?”

Steve looked at the queen’s troubled expression. “Yes, your Majesty?”

“Please spare me a boon: is my son alright? Is he safe?”

It couldn’t hurt to appease the worried mother of his teammate, could it? “Your son is safe, ma’am. He seemed to be of a much sounder mind after returning from his talk with you.”

Frigga smiled gently. “That is all I wished to know. Thank you.” She paused. “Best of luck with the rest of your journey, Avengers.”

“And to you on yours,” he responded, synching his devie with Natasha’s and seeing Frigga enter Jane’s room just before they vanished.

 

\---

 

New York was surprisingly easy to return the time and mind stones in. Likely because it was in shambles from the battle that had just taken place, Steve noted as he watched his past self leave his 2012 self unconscious on the floor.

Time travel was confusing.

He set the scepter case beside his 2012 self and sized it back to normal size ( _ thank you _ , Scott Lang) while Natasha circled the two Steves, an amused smirk on her face. Steve looked up at her expectantly.

“What?”

Her smirk grew. “You and Tony are right,” she said. “That is  _ definitely _ America’s ass.”

Steve flushed furiously but laughed anyway, shaking his head as he stood up and dusted his suit off. He hadn’t seen Natasha smile like that in a long time; it was a good look for her. Steve held his elbow out and she automatically took it, falling into step with him as they snuck out of Avengers’ tower and made their way across town to the Ancient One.

The Ancient One was waiting for them, something that seemed to be a reoccuring theme in their travels. Steve decided not to dwell on it and placed the time stone into the bald woman’s waiting hand, watching her secure it in a pendant around her neck.

“I am glad Doctor Banner kept his word,” she said. “and that you were successful in your fight.”

Steve frowned. “We didn’t--”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Steve, she has the  _ time _ stone. She can see timelines.”

The Ancient One chuckled. “It is not that simple, but yes. You would not be here if you had failed.” Her eyes darted between the two of them, and Steve had to resist the urge to squirm.

“Time is fickle,” she said slowly. “You have changed it even with returning the infinity stones. Should you make any more changes… consider the potential consequences before you make them.”

Natasha frowned in confusion, but Steve nodded his understanding and swallowed thickly. Of course the woman responsible for guarding the time stone would see right through him.

“Understood, ma’am.”

“Good. Now stay here for some rest and food before your last stop.” The Ancient One looked smug. “You  _ do _ have all the time in the world, after all.”

Rightfully, Steve assumed she wouldn’t take no for an answer and followed after her, Natasha on his heels.

 

\---

 

“What did she mean about consequences, Steve?” Natasha asked later in their room, pointing the chopsticks that came with their take-out at him. Steve sighed wearily and set his food down.

“I’m not going back to 2024.”

The atmosphere of the room tensed considerably. Natasha calmly set her own food down and leaned forward. “Why?”

“I’m tired, Nat. I keep thinking about what could happen if I gave myself the time taken from me to be with the loved ones I’d left behind. If I had the chance to slow down.” He laughed humorlessly. “Tony was always telling me to get a life. I guess this was my chance to try and do that.”

Natasha chewed on her bottom lip and moved so that she sat next to Steve instead of across from him. “Where would you go?”

“1945,” he said immediately, meeting her eyes. “I have to meet with Peggy, Nat. I want to slow down, have a family with her, and never touch the shield again.” Steve paused. “I’m tired of being Captain America. I just want to be Steve.”

Natasha reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze, thumb smoothing over his knuckles as she mulled over his words.

“Okay, let’s talk it through,” she finally said, startling Steve. “Ignoring entirely that there would still be a version of you in the ice for seventy years, there are several flaws to your plan.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded. “Flaw one: you are well-aware that HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD a long time ago right under Peggy’s nose. You’re putting down the shield if you do this, so you mean to tell me that you, Steve Rogers, will happily sit by knowing that and let HYDRA corrupt what Peggy Carter worked so hard to build without doing anything? Not to mention that with you coming back from the war instead of supposedly dying, you would effectively negate the creation of SHIELD in the first place, leaving Earth vulnerable against the threats we were designed to take out.”

Steve felt cold. “I--”

“Flaw two,” Natasha went on. “You know that HYDRA got their hands on Bucky after he fell from the train and tortured him for seventy years, ensuring too much blood be spilled by his hands and traumatizing your best friend for  _ life _ . You mean to tell me that you’d willingly let Bucky go through all of that without any intervention whatsoever?”

“Nat--”

“Flaw three: Peggy had a husband and children, Steve. She was very happy and told you as much before she passed. Going back would not only potentially lead to an unhappy life for her husband, which is unfair to do to him, but it would literally wipe her current children and grandchildren from existence. Which  _ also _ leads to flaw four: I know you kissed Sharon Carter. Do you really want to live your life knowing you’d kissed your niece?”

“Are you done?” Steve snapped, only regretting it a little when he saw Natasha’s head twitch. He sighed and let his head fall forward, pinching the bridge of his nose. Natasha continued to sooth the back of his hand, a comforting gesture opposing his inner turmoil.

“I didn’t say all of that to upset you,” she said slowly, quietly, like he’d run if she spoke any louder. “The Ancient One said to consider the consequences, so I did it for you. I know you, Steve, and you wouldn’t sit idly by knowing all the bad going on around you. You’d change the future drastically if you were there instead of here, and time is too erratic to know if those changes will stay good or end up much, much worse.”

“I know,” he murmured, looking at Natasha once he dropped his hand. She was more vulnerable than she’d ever let herself appear before, and he was grateful she trusted him with this side of herself. “I’d have completely fucked up if you weren't here, Nat. Thanks.”

Her lips twitched up. “My, my,” she said. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, Steve Rogers?”

Steve laughed; he saw the victory behind Natasha’s eyes as a result. “I’ll never live that down, will I?”

“Not as long as you breathe,” she replied easily, picking her food back up. Steve followed suit and nudged her with his shoulder, grinning when she returned it immediately. The two finished eating in a companionable silence, and if Natasha passed out in his bed Steve wasn’t about to judge her. He turned the light out and settled beside her, smiling softly when she wrapped her arms around his middle.

He was out after that, gravitating toward her warmth just before he fell asleep.

 

\---

 

In the morning:

“You know, I never took you for a cuddler, Nat.”

“Shut it, Rogers.”

 

\---

 

Seeing Peggy for the second time in a few days was still painful.

LIke before, he snuck into her office, but unlike before it was to see her again rather than hide from security. He was so close--if he wanted, he could go to her right that second, gather her in his arms, and promise to never leave her again. Hell, there was no  _ if _ about it. Steve  _ wanted _ to go to Peggy desperately, but he was stuck watching her through the blinds of her office, unable to reach closure with the Peggy of his memories and dreams.

Steve hated feeling helpless.

The door opened and closed behind him. Logically, he should have moved immediately to keep himself from being compromised. The hand that touched his elbow was familiar, though, and Steve unconsciously moved closer to Natasha.

“I want to, Nat,” he murmured. She sighed quietly.

“You can’t, Steve. You know that.”

“It hurts.”

“I know.” She took his device and entered their next coordinates while Steve drank Peggy in, doing so for her own a moment later and drawing his attention when she was done. A sad smile was on her lips.

“One more stop,” Natasha murmured.  _ Home _ , Steve’s brain supplied, stomach rolling when his mind associated the word with 2024 rather than 1945. He firmly shoved that realization into the back of his mind and activated the device before he could change his mind, almost wishing he had when he left the 1970s--and Peggy--behind.

 

\---

 

Something wasn’t right. They were in 2024, he knew that, but the base wasn’t in the shambles he’d left it in. Bruce had said five seconds would have passed between his departure and return, so they couldn’t have rebuilt it already. Not when they were still mourning the fallen.

Tony flashed at the forefront of his mind, and his chest hurt.

Natasha was walking through the base with purpose, leaving Steve to extend his stride to catch up with her. There was a renewed sort of energy in her, and Steve raised a questioning eyebrow.

“You put the coordinates in wrong,” he decided to point out. She only rolled her eyes and continued to walk until they got to her office, a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich still on the table.

“We should be halfway to Tony’s cabin by now,” she said, unlocking her laptop and scrolling through its contents. “We don’t need to rush. Not yet, anyway.”

“That still doesn’t explain why we’re here,” he said slowly, looking over her shoulder as she pulled up a contact list and clicked on Carol Danvers’ name.

“Damning the consequences,” she said, straightening her posture and grinning when the blonde woman appeared in the hologram. She was at parade rest, though she looked frazzled enough to make Steve believe she’d just been very busy.

“Widow,” Carol said. “Is there a problem? We just spoke not that long ago.”

“I know, but I wouldn’t call if it weren’t an emergency,” Natasha said coolly. “It’s a matter of discretion, so I trust you’ll keep it private.”

Carol raised her eyebrows. “I feel like I should be offended, but I’ll bite. What’s so important that you’d offend my honor?”

Natasha met Steve’s eyes, brief uncertainty clouding them until he nodded his encouragement. She nodded back and met Carol’s gaze with renewed purpose. “We’re in the process of collecting the infinity stones to make our own gauntlet. By doing so, we’ll be able to snap Thanos and his army out of existence, preventing him from dusting half the universe like he already has as well as bringing the dusted back. We need you to keep the gauntlet from Tony at all cost when we finally fight Thanos headon. If Tony snaps during the final battle, he will die. We can’t let that happen.”

“What happened to ‘whatever it takes’?” Carol asked, more curious than accusatory, and Steve shook his head.

“Some results aren’t worth the price paid to get there,” he murmured. Carol nodded slowly.

“Tell me what you need me to do.”

Later, after Carol hung up, Natasha rapidly scribbled out a note on some scrap paper, folding it into a tight little square. Steve looked at her curiously, and she shook her head, heading down one of the many halls of the base and opening the door to a sleek white laboratory, slightly covered in dust. Natasha glanced around until she found the computer station they’d used from their tests with Scott, heading over to it and tucking the square between the keyboard keys. Steve glanced at her.

“So why..?” he began, but Natasha beat him to it.

“Contingency, in case Carol can’t pull through on her side of the plan.” She sighed. “Thanos is powerful. We need to think everything through if we want to save Tony.”

Steve nodded and looked around the lab again, jaw clenching. “Ready to see if we messed up our timeline or not?”

Natasha snorted. “I’m no longer dead, Steve. I’m pretty sure that alone screwed up the timeline as it is.”

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he said seriously. The two locked eyes for a long, tension-filled moment, and Steve broke it with an embarrassed cough. Neither of them said a word, but once the tension broke there was a comfort that Steve couldn’t recall having with anyone other than Bucky.

Not even Peggy. 

That was terrifying. Steve wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

“Ready?” she asked once their devices were set, gaze soft. He nodded.

“Ready.”

And they were gone.

  
  


\---

 

Changing the future was disorienting.

Back when they were tightening the finesse of time travel, Tony and Bruce had sat in the kitchen for hours babbling about the logistics of traversing the quantum realm, with Scott chiming in on occasion about the reality of actually  _ being _ there as opposed to their theory. Steve considered himself a relatively smart guy, but half of what they said went over his head. 

He understood the gist of the other half, though. Every change they’d made in the past would theoretically diverge into a new timeline. His 2012 self knew Bucky was alive years before he should have, but he’d also thought Steve was Loki. According to Scott and Tony, Loki had gotten ahold of the tesseract before he could be carted back to Asgard, vanishing from New York--maybe even Earth entirely. The 2014 versions of Nebula, Gamora, and Thanos had showed up ten years out of their time, with two of them dead by the end of the fight.

Theoretically, all new timelines.

Steve deeply hoped that all he and Natasha had done affected their own timeline instead of branching off into different ones like the geniuses of the Avengers (plus Scott) had concluded. He didn’t want to have gone through all of that for Tony to still be dead.

They arrived on the platform, which put them on the right track at least. Bucky, Bruce, and Sam were all still there, just as he’d left them, and Bruce looked up just as he started speaking.

“And welc--Nat?”

Natasha’s smile was strained. “Hey, Bruce.”

“... how.”

“Soul for a soul,” Steve said. “They wanted the stone back, so Nat came back as a result.” Never mind that he bullied Red Skull for that result to come true. 

Bruce was over in an instant, pulling Natasha into a hug that she returned just as fiercely. Steve wandered over to Sam and Bucky, the latter looking confused.

“I thought you were gonna stay with Peggy,” Bucky said. “Retire like you wanted.”

“Wait, he  _ what _ ?” Sam asked. Steve just shook his head.

“She had a good life without me,” he said slowly. “I couldn’t take that from her, even if she could’ve had that with me as well.”

“Little punk is all grown up,” he joked, ruffling Steve’s hair and laughing at his protests. Steve swatted him away eventually, smiling when Bruce and Natasha joined them.

“Where’s Clint?” he asked, and she shifted where she stood.

“On his way back to Laura and the kids. I’ll have to head out for a visit as soon as we’re done here.” She paused and grinned--never a good sign. “Bruce said Tony has been wanting to show us something.”

His blood froze.

_ They did it _ .

“Let’s not keep him waiting,” Steve said, aiming for nonchalance and likely missing the mark. He offered Natasha his arm, and she took it, leading the way.

 

\---

 

Tony hated hospitals. He knew that from all the times they’d fought about Tony going to medical before the Avengers split up, so seeing Tony sequestered to his bed at home was no shock to Steve. Pepper was at Tony’s bedside dutifully, and Morgan was curled up on her father’s lap.

Steve smiled and squeezed Natasha’s hand in the crook of his elbow.  _ We did it _ .

He cleared his throat to signal their arrival, Tony’s eyes going comically wide when they landed on the very-much-alive Natasha. “Nat? Holy shit.”

“Tony,” Pepper admonished, and Morgan giggled. He grinned and lifted her up, his new (prosthetic? bionic? Steve couldn’t tell) arm visible, and the wince he hid from his daughter as he moved even more so.

“Why don’t you go with mama to get some juice pops?” he asked Morgan. “I’ve gotta talk to Steve and Natasha for a bit.”

Pepper took the hint and grabbed Morgan, dropping a kiss onto Tony’s forehead before she left. He didn’t speak again until they were well out of earshot.

“I saw your note before Bruce did,” he started. “I figured I could do a little ribbing at Bruce if I skimmed it. ‘If it was a personal note, Nat wouldn’t have left it out for anyone to see,’ I thought. ‘She’s not that sloppy.’ So I read the note, double-checked that it wasn’t just really good forgery, then went and told Bruce to account for the excess gamma radiation when making the gauntlet and made sure my suit had the same precautions.” He paused. “None of us would’ve thought to do that, so the only logical conclusion is that you two decided to mess around with time. Am I right?”

Steve nodded. “Well, it seems like our meddling didn’t entirely work. You still snapped, didn’t you?”

Tony wriggled his new fingers and nodded. “I almost died even with the contingency. Carol did her best to be the one to do it, but Thanos is a bitch.” He let his head fall back against his pillow. “I don’t know whether to thank you for letting me still be here for Morgan or yell at you for almost ending our one chance at defeating that purple Teletubby.”

Natasha chuckled. “How about we cross that bridge when we get there? There’s plenty of time for you to figure that out now.”

“I guess you’re right.” Tony smiled tiredly. “You’ll be the first to know which one I choose, I promise you that. Send Pep back up when you see her? She’s probably turning grey with worry.”

Steve chuckled and opened the door. “Will do. Get some rest, Tony.”

“Will do, Cap,” Tony said with a lazy salute. “And welcome back, Nat.”

Natasha smiled. “Sleep well, Tony.”

The two left Tony to sleep, Steve shutting the door quietly behind him and telling Pepper Tony wanted her when they saw her. They went outside, Steve leading Natasha toward the lake. In another timeline, it was a sorrowful sight. Now, it was beautiful.

“We did it,” Steve said, and he felt Natasha nod.

“We did.”

“You’re both alive.”

“We are.”

“... now what?”

Natasha slid her hand down Steve’s arm to his hand, entwining their fingers. Steve held on like she was a lifeline. “Want to get lunch?”

Steve slowly smiled. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

And so they went.

**Author's Note:**

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> 
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> as always, kudos and comments are always appreciated. thanks for reading!


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